Toespraak van minister Koenders op het PAL Forum

Toespraak | 29-10-2015

Dear Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minster, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends and all the colleagues from Palestine and the Netherlands. It is a great honour and an enormous pleasure to speak here in The Hague and I thank you all for coming here.

The second Dutch-Palestinian Bilateral Forum, two years after its inaugural session in Bethlehem, has stimulated the cooperation between people in so many areas, from politics to human rights, from culture to people to people and trilateral contacts, from business to the creation of work and new deals between us. I'd like to discuss your work here today in the light of the situation in Jerusalem, Hebron and Gaza, and give a preview of the work that lies ahead for us in the coming months.

Before looking back at what we’ve done today, I'd like to pause just a second to reflect on the reality on the ground. Today I notice the large gap between the positive spirit in this venue and the sad realities on the ground. Where innocent Palestinians and Israeli’s have been the victim of so much violence, should we actually have meetings like this? But it is exactly now that it is vital to have this important forum and support all positive forces within Palestinian society and within our own society that are working for a better future.

That’s the forceful message we're sending today: dialogue, not violence; trade, not attacks, political negotiations, not religious violence.

But allow me to emphasise how deeply concerned I am, and I think we all are, about the recent escalation of violence. Innocent lives have been lost on both sides in violent attacks, and others in protests against the occupation. The current escalation is a stark reminder of what we all know: peace can't wait.

I'm particularly worried by the religious dimension in the conflict that seems to be gaining ground. This further complicates a future solution and is neither in the interest of Palestinians nor Israelis. I urge both sides to show restraint and to refrain from actions that further fan the flames. I had the honor to discuss this again with Minister Malki.

Let me be clear: violence will never lead to the desired outcome, a two-state solution. It will only strengthen the hand of the extremists on both sides. Right now de-escalation is number 1 priority.

I have used today's meetings, as the Prime Minister did, to underscore the importance that all sides refrain from inciting statements and actively work for de-escalation. Rejecting violence is essential for de-escalation.

Gradually, after the Gaza war last year, the attention of the world moved away from the peace process. Some said it was time to pause and rethink our strategies while the war in Syria and the refugee crisis captured everybody’s attention. Some say we need to invest more time and efforts to prevent further radicalization, both in the region as here in Europe, or to prevent more radical groups as Da’esh using the conflict for a justification for their crimes. How true that may be, I strongly believe that the most important remains to really prioritize the issue of resolving the conflict.

What more can we do to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of a political solution and create the much needed political horizon? The current status quo is simply not sustainable. I propose three steps to create a credible political horizon, steps about trust, a new approach and effective state building:

1. We need to work towards favorable climate for resumption of the peace process. By building confidence, including continued security cooperation, strengthening the Palestinian economy and improvement of situation in Gaza. Both sides need to refrain from steps that undermine confidence. Israel must stop all settlement expansion. Our position is well known: settlements are illegal and a severe threat to the two-state solution.
2. Developments in the region also underline the urgency of a new transformative approach to resolve the Middle East peace process. Israel, the Palestinians and constructive Arab nations have a collective responsibility and a shared interest: two states living side by side in peace and security, and working in close cooperation with regional partners to commonly confront challenges like Da'esh. Therefore it is necessary to develop a new format for negotiations with substantial role for the European Union and Arab partners next to the United States. Based on Arab Peace Initiative. I support French and European efforts to create new dynamic in the Peace Process. The Netherlands is in favor of a United Nations Security Council resolution based on European Union parameters for the final status negotiations, adopted by consensus.
3. Thirdly, I commend the progress in Palestinian state building efforts. I call on their leadership to build on this progress. Good governance, service delivery, a pluralistic and inclusive government with space for dissenting opinions will strengthen legitimacy of Palestinian leadership. Equally important is the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza. I call upon the consensus government to display the necessary leadership.

I have offered my good offices to work with Israel and Palestinians to improve the climate for negotiations, improve security cooperation, reduce the occupation of area C as a first priority, stop settlement building, improve access and movement and revive the trilateral commission against incitement. Israeli's and Palestinians should be able to live in security. These are some of the crucial points.

Despite the difficult circumstances, small steps on the ground are possible in the meanwhile. We have to be realistic: the occupation is severely restricting Palestinian economic development. The World Bank has calculated that Palestinian GDP could grow by 35% if Palestinian farmers and businesses had unrestricted access to Area C.

To say it is difficult to do business under occupation is an understatement. Yet some things can be done. For instance, the business climate could be improved by adopting the Competition Law and the new Companies Law.

One of the major constraints is restrictions on the movement of people and goods. As a leader in logistics and trade, the Netherlands as no other understands the importance of free movement and access. We had that in mind when we donated a container scanner for your border with Jordan and helped Jordan upgrade the border facilities on its side. In November - Inshallah - the first containerised exports from the West Bank to Jordan will be possible. And next August, when the scanner we donated for Allenby is ready for use, containerised imports will be possible as well. I encourage you all to take advantage of these opportunities to open new markets for exports and imports and trade in larger volumes at lower costs with the rest of the world.

In July I also announced the donation of a second container scanner for Gaza. The first scanner we donated resulted in a resumption of trade between Gaza, the West Bank and Israel for the first time since 2007.

The additional scanner will allow more exports from Gaza. All sides intend to have trade grow considerably beyond 100 trucks per month. To achieve this, the Netherlands and partners will continue to push for easing trade restrictions.

And that, Mr. President, brings me to today’s meeting. This Bilateral Forum is an expression of our desire to broaden and deepen relations between Dutch and Palestinian society. It is firmly rooted in long-standing commitments and arrangements, built up over many years of political, economic and development cooperation.

Today’s main theme has been 'Smart Opportunities for Dutch-Palestinian Cooperation'. Under this banner you have been working today, and some of you since yesterday, on exploring new ways to sustain the partnership we launched in 2013. Tomorrow you will visit different places in the Netherlands to see for yourself what our country has to offer.

With our annual contribution of roughly €50 million to the Palestinian people and to Palestinian state-building efforts, we have a strong track record in support of food security and agriculture, the rule of law, and water. Promising new sectors have been added and new opportunities identified in recent years in private sector development, energy, ICT, culture and sports.

I think this forum is an excellent opportunity for Dutch companies to learn more about business opportunities in the Palestinian Territories. The Netherlands has always been keen on stimulating foreign investment and trade. We are interested in building strong, sustainable partnerships with businesses in other countries. To accommodate our companies, the Netherlands’ Representative Office in Ramallah opens doors and assist companies when needed.

One of this morning's first activities was a presentation on doing business in the Palestinian Territories. It included a discussion of Dutch programmes for supporting investment and the private sector, like our Senior Experts Programme – PUM. The Dutch PUM expert who advised Taybeh Winery on how to make better wines was a great example of combining Dutch and Palestinian entrepreneurial ingenuity. Working together, we brought something unexpected to the Middle East.

We have today given another boost to our ICT partnership by welcoming young, innovative IT start-ups from the Palestinian Territories. They have a chance here to pitch their companies and new ideas to possible investors and strategic partners.

And we’ve explored another smart option in the field of energy cooperation. Dutch and Palestinians are working together to improve the energy situation in the Palestinian Territories, where there is an urgent need for more energy, very urgent. Gaza especially is facing an acute energy shortage. I'm very pleased to announce that the Dutch government will financially support the Gas for Gaza initiative. As with many initiatives you explored and discussed today, we are involving the private sector in this endeavour by drawing on the technical expertise of Gasunie.

Alongside gas, renewable energy is a good way to meet the Palestinian Territories’ energy needs: it's relatively cheap, sustainable and independent of the outside world. The Palestinian Territories offer many opportunities for the use of renewables. The Netherlands is keen to work on renewables with Palestinian companies like the ones represented here today.

This brings me to a topic close to my heart: Gaza. I visited Gaza in 2008 and again this July, after the last and most destructive round of violence. I saw that the people, amazingly enough, are more resilient than anyone could have expected. Since 2008, unfortunately, the situation has only deteriorated. The people have endured another seven years of economic hardship and three wars.

It is heartening to see entrepreneurs and scholars from Gaza here today. Clearly we need to do more to break the cycle of violence and reconstruction. The Palestinian political factions, all of them, need to show leadership and allow President Abbas and the Palestinian government in Ramallah to restore their full authority in Gaza. The international community must live up to its generous promises for reconstruction. And Israel needs to further open the borders, to ease the movement of goods and people, and to ensure access.

The Netherlands has fully disbursed the funds we committed to in 2014. If you count the additional scanner and other initiatives, we are actually doing more than we pledged in Cairo in October 2014. But I'm not here to boost our own contributions. It is all about our work together today.

Our discussions today have been fruitful and promising. Yet fruitful or not, these talks will not live up to their full potential as long as the political situation in the Middle East – in particular the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – stays the same.

Recent events underline the urgency of finding a credible way forward politically. And economic development is no substitute for a political solution. Development is one essential factor in promoting stability, but it isn’t the only one.

Our collective efforts should be aimed at ensuring the continued viability of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, and at reviving prospects for peace. Before it is too late! In this era of radicalisation and turmoil in the region, moderate forces like ours must stand together, to press forward with an innovative and transformative approach.

Dialogue is an important precondition – and maybe the most important precondition – for achieving peace. Even more crucially: dialogue should not just consist of formal talks between governments. It must include contact between ordinary people on both sides of the conflict.

And when parties are unable to engage in fruitful dialogue, third parties should not shy away from having courage for investing time and diplomacy in the task of bringing them back to the table, with a credible political horizon.

It is my sincere hope that the fora that we have established with you and with Israel can contribute, modestly, but nevertheless, to this dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis. We will continue to build on the results of this second Forum. And we hope new opportunities will be found for cooperation.

Mr. President, the Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti once wrote: 'truth needs no eloquence.' If I have not have expressed myself very eloquently, I can only hope that my lack of eloquence will not obscure the truths I have spoken.

Thank you. I wish you all a very pleasant stay in the Netherlands and a very safe journey home. Thank you very much.